UVM, Binghamton grapple for NCAA tournament berth

UMBC's Cormac Noael (32) battles for the ball with Vermont's Shane Haley (20) during the men's soccer game between the UMBC Retrievers and the Vermont Catamounts at Virtue Field earlier this season.(Photo: BRIAN JENKINS/for the Free Press)

Overtime against the University of Maryland-Baltimore had yet to begin but the Vermont men's soccer team knew what the season's next goal would bring.

News from Wednesday night's other America East semifinal had already filtered north from Albany.

"We found out going into overtime, so coach came in and said, 'Guys, if you win, we're going to stay home because Binghamton won,'" junior forward Bernard Yeboah said.

Yeboah delivered three minutes later and now all the Catamounts have to do is figure out how to beat the Bearcats when the two square off for the conference championship at noon on Sunday at Virtue Field.

It will be the first time Vermont (10-6-3) has hosted the league final since 2000, and the program's first shot at an NCAA tournament berth since 2007.

"I think it's great for the game, it's great for the people in the community, the soccer folks," UVM coach Jesse Cormier said. "There's a great community here and to have an exciting, championship-level game with a great team like Binghamton, who really gave us fits when they came here before and beat us, it's just going to be a great game.

"We're excited to kind of go after the belt on Sunday."

The fifth-seeded Bearcats (10-7-2) prevailed on the Catamounts' home turf in the teams' regular season showdown, 2-1, popping in two goals in the first 32 minutes and keeping UVM off the board until the final five.

To reach the title game for the first time since 2008, Binghamton rallied from a two-goal deficit to knock off No. 5 Stony Brook in double overtime in the quarterfinals. Then came Wednesday's 1-0 upset of regular-season champion Albany via an 80th-minute strike from Logan Roberts.

"This is a very good Binghamton team," said UVM senior defender Jack Shea, a former U-32 standout. "It's going to be a big challenge in the finals."

Vermont's Stefan Lamanna (11) and UMBC's Riley Collins (23) battles for the ball during the America East semifinal playoff game between the UMBC Retrievers and the Vermont Catamounts at Virtue Field on Wednesday night.(Photo: BRIAN JENKINS/for the Free Press)

The defensive-minded Bearcats are led by netminder Robert Moewes, the America East goalkeeper of the year for the second straight season. One of five Binghamton players to earn all-league honors, Moewes was also one of 30 preseason contenders for the Hermann Trophy, college soccer's player of the year award.

"From the 11 guys on the field to the seven guys coming into the game, they're all committed to defending," Cormier said. "They all get behind the ball, they all press, they all compete for everything that's out there.

"Those are the tough teams to prepare for because it's a mentality, it's an identity they have."

Graduate student Pascal Trappe, a first-team all-conference selection in midfield, leads Binghamton with six goals on the season while Roberts and Zach Galluzzo are second with three apiece.

Each is capable of making opponents pay when the Bearcats win the ball and transition to attack.

"There's a lot of space out there but what Binghamton does, because they work so hard and are so hungry to win the ball inside their own half and counter, it doesn't feel like that," Cormier said. "It always feels like you're getting closed down — and that's true if you take too long, or you're not reading the game well."

The Vermont team hosting the championship has a far different identity from the 2007 team that claimed the America East crown on the road against Binghamton.

Cormier described that 2007 team, which beat Dartmouth to reach the second round of the NCAA tournament, as a mental "juggernaut," a much more defense-first unit than his current squad.

"We had some weapons, Lee Kouadio, Jordan Crasilneck, guys who could get the goal that you needed," Cormier said. "This team, they'll get you many. If a team doesn't defend well or if we start to get in a rhythm, this team can run it up on you more than that team."

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Bernard Yeboah scored in the 93rd minute to lift the second-seeded Vermont Catamounts to a 2-1 overtime win against No. 3 UMBC in the America East Semifinals at Virtue Field on Wednesday before a record crowd of 853 fans.
CatamounTV

All of that starts with juniors Brian Wright, second in the conference with nine goals and seven assists this season, Stefan Lamanna (five goals, five assists), Yeboah (five goals) and Shane Haley.

And the Catamounts are bracing for Wright to receive extra attention from the Binghamton defense.

"To me, this game represents the fact that we can't solely rely on Brian and that's what Bernard did such a good job of in the semifinal, he stepped up," Cormier said.

Yeboah's winner was his third of the season and second straight in the semifinals, also bagging the decisive goal in last year's win at Albany.

One boost for the Catamounts for the final: Senior midfielder Charlie DeFeo, among UVM's most complete two-way players, is back in the mix after missing Wednesday's game against UMBC due to yellow card accumulation.

"He'll be ready to go for Sunday and that'll help us," Cormier said.

Among the other priorities when facing the Bearcats: Keeping the freelancing to a minimum and not getting over-extended in attack.

"That's one of the themes we've developed through the year, guys trying to do too much, guys trying to do different roles because they see what they perceive as opportunities," Cormier said. "Binghamton loves it when you do that, when you lose your discipline, when you lose your organization, lose your shape, that's when they can take advantage of you."

Tickets for the America East final, available at UVMathletics.com or in person at the Gutterson Fieldhouse ticket office, are $8 for adults, $5 for children 14 and under, and free for UVM students.

Contact Austin Danforth at 651-4851 or edanforth@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/eadanforth

Vermont huddles together before the start of the men's soccer game between the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs and the Vermont Catamounts at Virtue Field earlier this season.(Photo: BRIAN JENKINS/for the Free PRess)